Complex photonics

Understanding life has huge implications on our development and wellbeing. The outstanding complexity of living organisms brings questions we can’t answer, because there are strong limitations of available technologies giving sufficiently detailed insight through scattering tissues.
Amongst other activities we develop a new class of endoscopes that can break through this barrier. This technology can potentially go as far as reaching super-resolution with instruments having a footprint comparable to the dimensions of a single cell.  Project Gate2μ is supported from European Regional Development Fund (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000476) and progresses in synergy with ERC-Consolidator grant LIFEGATE hosted by Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena.

WP1Technological boost is essential for all aspect of our research agenda. Our activities focus on imaging with new types of multimode optical fibers. We focus mainly on gradient-index fibers, which offer low dispersion as well as high resilience to bending.
We develop new the fiber terminations and end-face coatings to improve applicability in challenging conditions.
For fast and reliable image recovery we develop advanced data processing algorithms using parallel processing.
Further we focus on development of modular imaging systems and user-friendly interface that may by readily deployed in laboratories of our partners.
Lastly we develop the applications of MEMS technology for ultra-fast wavefront shaping required for methods of holographic endoscopy.

WP2Better understanding of light-transport processes will enable faster and more precise light control especially in highly dynamic regimes of imaging. Multimode fibres deliver light signals in the form of apparently random speckled patterns, in a very similar fashion to other random media. Although multimode fibres feature remarkably faithful cylindrical symmetry they are frequently classified as unpredictable optical systems. Our research challenges this commonly held notion. We develop holographic geometries for complete and accurate analysis of light signals traveling throughout the fibre and verify the observations by advanced numerical modelling. Harnessing the predictability of multimode waveguides in endoscopy will allow for numerous enhancements of deep tissue imaging.

Martin Šiler
siler@isibrno.cz
+420 541 514 240 

Petr Jákl
jakl@isibrno.cz
+420 541 514 402

Stephen Simpson
Simpson@isibrno.cz
+420 541 514 132

WP3Label-free imaging with chemical contrast allows for the detection of the composition of tissues without the need of further chemical interventions (staining). It is based on the principles of Raman spectroscopy and it has been exploited in applications such as identifying bacteria and imaging lipid distribution in cells (relevant for cell metabolism and related disease conditions). Combined with holographic endoscopy, it has a great promise as a method for diagnosing tumors in sensitive and inaccessible locations such as pancreas and ovary, without performing a biopsy and associated time consuming histopathology.
We aim to implement Raman imaging through a multimode fiber combined with several advanced imaging modalities.

WP4In-vivo applications represents the culmination of our efforts to introduce new imaging platform for observations inside living organisms. The methodology of holographic endoscopy utilises light transport through standard multimode optical fibres to perform lensless minimally invasive micro-endoscopy. These possibilities represent a great promise for in-vivo bio-medical imaging, allowing advanced methods such microscopy to be introduced into deep regions of unrestraint and awake animal models. Our current research efforts focus on allowing these methods in flexible geometries, increasing the speed of acquisition and first in-vivo experiments in animal models.

Johanna Trägårdh
Johanna@isibrno.cz
+420 541 514 135

 

Hana uhlířová
huhlirova@isibrno.cz
+420 541 514 340

 

Latest publications:

Cifuentes A., Pikálek T., Ondráčková P., Amezcua-Correa R., Antonio-Lopez J. E., Čižmár T., Trägårdh J., "Polarization-resolved second-harmonic generation imaging through a multimode fiber", Optica 8, 1065-1074 (2021)

Plidschun M., Weidlich S., Šiler M., Weber K., Čižmár T., Schmidt M. A., "Nanobore fiber focus trap with enhanced tuning capabilities", Opt. Express 27, 36221-36230 (2019)

Trägårdh J., Pikálek T., Šerý M., Meyer T., Popp J., Čižmár T., "Label-free CARS microscopy through a multimode fiber endoscope", Opt. Express 27, 30055–30066 (2019)

Pikálek T., Trägårdh J., Simpson S., Čižmár T., "Wavelength dependent characterization of a multimode fibre endoscope", Opt. Express, 27 28239–28253 (2019)

Sergey Turtaev, Ivo T. Leite, Tristan Altwegg-Boussac, Janelle M. P. Pakan, Nathalie L. Rochefort & Tomáš Čižmár, "High-fidelity multimode fibre-based endoscopy for deep brain in vivo imaging", Light: Science & Applications, volume 7, Article number: 92 (2018) (ABSTRACT)

Sergey Turtaev, Ivo T. Leite, Kevin J. Mitchell, Miles J. Padgett, David B. Phillips, & Tomáš Čižmár, "Comparison of nematic liquid-crystal and DMD based spatial light modulation in complex photonics", Opt. Express 25, 29874-29884 (2017)

Ivo T. Leite, Sergey Turtaev, Xin Jiang, Martin Šiler, Alfred Cuschieri, Philip St.J. Russell, & Tomáš Čižmár, "3-D holographic optical manipulation through high-NA soft-glass multimode fibre”, Nature Photonics (advanced online publication)  (2017) ABSTRACT

Dirk E. Boonzajer Flaes, Jan Stopka, Sergey Turtaev, Johannes F. de Boer, Tomáš Tyc, Tomáš Čižmár, "Robustness of Light-Transport Processes to Bending Deformations in Graded-Index Multimode Waveguides", Physical Review Letters, V120, 233901 (2018) ABSTRACT

 

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Team leader: Tomas Cizmar

cizmart@isibrno.cz

+420 541 514 131